Innovation and adoption of mobile technology in public organizations: the IBGE case

• Main Authors: Amarolinda Iara da Costa Zanela Saccol, Adriana Manica, Silvia Elaluf-Calderwood
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundação Getulio Vargas 2011-01-01
• Series: RAE: Revista de Administração de Empresas
• Subjects: Mobile and wireless information technologies; IT adoption; census; organizational processes; information systems evaluation
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-75902011000100007&lng=en&nrm=iso

The use of Mobile and Wireless Information Technologies (MWIT) for provisioning public services by a government is a relatively recent phenomenon. This paper evaluates the results of MWIT adoption by IBGE (The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) through a case study. In 2007, IBGE applied 82,000 mobile devices (PDAs) for data gathering in a census operation in Brazil. A set of challenges for a large scale application of MWIT required intensive work involving innovative working practices and service goals. The case reveals a set of outputs of this process, such as time and cost reductions in service provision, improved information quality, staff training and increased organizational effectiveness and agility.